The Eye Test: UCLA Shows Its Mettle in Victory Over Iowa
The Bruins played outstanding defense and opportunistic offense to get the win.
Before we even get to the grades, let’s check in with what I said heading into this game:
I called Iowa the gatekeeper of the Big Ten in the preview for a number of reasons, but the main one for me is that the Hawkeyes are not good enough to be considered a truly elite team but they have the kind of talent and coaching that leads to predictable results against either outmanned or outcoached opponents. To beat Iowa requires either a preponderance of talent or disciplined coaching.
Let’s see what UCLA has.
The answer, apparently, is that UCLA has a lot of both.
Against Iowa, the Bruins showcased a level of coaching that, while not exactly disciplined, was definitely good enough to overcome the typically solid coaching on the other sideline. More importantly, they showed that the talent level of this team was not as bad as initially believed and could overcome various setbacks thrown at them to beat a quality opponent. If you told me a month ago this kind of performance was possible, I would not believe you.
I will again caution that you may require some hesitancy in assuming everything is fine and dandy. After all, Iowa entered this game with their backup quarterback as the starter and had to go the emergency third-string quarterback (who was moonlighting as a scout-team linebacker a few weeks prior) in the second half. The Iowa defense was healthier but has not traveled well this season (25.25 points allowed on the road compared to 13.5 at home). But just like with the Nebraska game, the way UCLA played is cause for optimism, and there is now a real possibility UCLA can make a bowl game.
Let’s get into this thing.
Offense
Quarterback: D
Ethan Garbers was an absolute mess in this game, reverting to early-season Garbers at the worst possible time. Garbers was 21-34 for 204 yards, and while he threw two touchdowns (including an incredible ball to Logan Loya for a touchdown) he also threw two miserable interceptions. The second one in particular was inexcusable, with the Bruins having marched down the field and facing a 2nd and goal from the three-yard line. Garbers should have been content to take a sack and live to fight another down, but he instead tried to force something and threw a miserable duck that floated into the waiting hands of an Iowa defender. Throw in the fumble that killed another potential UCLA scoring drive, and the Bruins likely lose this game had the running game not shown up for the first time all season.
It did not help that Garbers saw increased pressure for the first time in weeks, but it’s also not a great sign that any pressure at all can cause him to make terrible decisions. He’s a senior quarterback, he should be past this by now, yet here we are.
Running Backs: A
Offensive Line: B
I’ve watched this game a few times now, and I still have no idea what happened to the run game in this one beyond “Everyone played to their peak performance”. Start with TJ Harden, who came into the season with a ton of hype but has fizzled throughout the year, yet in this game he showed great patience and ability to read where the hole was going to open up in the line, eventually running for 125 yards on 20 carries. Keegan Jones (seven carries for 38 yards) and Jalen Berger (six carries for 30 yards) weren’t slouches either, as the running game, in general, had its best game by far.
The offensive line was similarly great in run blocking, looking much more focused and physical than they have been in the past. A lot of this was keyed by solid guard play, with Spencer Holstage and Josh Carlin doing good work. Special shout out to Jaylen Jeffers, who had to step in for an injured Niki Prongos and managed not to be a liability, which is a far cry from where he has been at times in his career. The grade is lower because pass blocking left much to be desired and highlighted how the group has yet to turn in a complete game, but this was an eye-opening performance against what is typically a stout run defense.
Overall: B-
I don’t think the run game was good enough to overcome some dreadful play from Ethan Garbers, but I think that speaks more to how poorly Garbers played than how the running game did. An average Garbers turns this from a three-point margin of victory to an absolute ass-kicking of a good team.
Defense
Run Defense: A
Overall: A-
Kaleb Johnson entered this game as a Heisman Trophy candidate. He had averaged at least 5.6 yards per carry in every game this season, with his lowest rushing total being 86 yards in a loss to Ohio State.
UCLA held him 49 yards on 18 carries for an abysmal average of 2.7 yards per carry.
The Bruins were keyed in on Johnson from the get-go; his first carry went for a loss of three yards, and seven of his 18 carries went for zero or negative yards (if you add in carries that went 1-2 yards, then you get 13 of his 18 overall carries that were below efficiency). Credit goes to the play of the front seven, from Jay Toia making the Iowa offensive line look extremely pedestrian to Carson Schwesinger continuing to make his case for All-American consideration with seven more tackles in this one. You could go on here; Oluwafemi Oladejo had four tackles for loss, including two sacks, Kain Medrano led the team with nine tackles, Ale Kaho and Jay Busic provided key snaps throughout, the list goes on.
I’ll save more of this talk for the defensive gameplan section, but forcing Iowa into passing situations was clearly the goal here, and for it to ultimately successful, the secondary had to play a good game, and they more or less did. Sure, they got burned on a deep ball early, but Iowa was only able to complete nine passes in total while getting three sacks. Holding Iowa to 4-10 on third down was important as well.
What stood out the most was the physicality on display. There was a lot made this season about whether the Pac-12 teams would be able to withstand the physicality of the Big Ten, and it was as if UCLA played in this game with a point to prove. Iowa QB Brandon Sullivan wants to run, but UCLA hit him so many times that it stopped that from being an option and ultimately knocked him out of the game. The biggest example of physicality was Kain Medrano straight-up ripping the ball away from Sullivan for UCLA’s second turnover. UCLA was simply the bully on defense in this game, which is not something I would have expected at the start of this season.
Special Teams
Overall: A
Keegan Jones Stop Running Out the Kickoff Challenge update: I am proud to say Keegan Jones has learned his lesson and did not try to return a kickoff. Coincidentally, the Bruins were not put in a bad position to start a drive in this game. Crazy how that works out!
I may not be exaggerating when I say Mateen Bhaghani’s 57-yard kick may go down as one of the most important moments of the season. At the time he went to kick it, UCLA was down 10-0 and needed to come away with some points just to stymie Iowa’s momentum. Deshaun Foster decided to trust Bhaghani to make that kick, and Bhaghani ultimately was able to get the ball over the crossbar and in. That got the defense juiced and settled things down for the offense, who would go on to end the half with two touchdowns (and would have had a third had Garbers not fumbled into the end zone). Complete momentum swing of a kick.
Other than that, you have to love the fact that UCLA had a better punter than Iowa in this one. Iowa loves their punters - you couldn’t turn into an Iowa broadcast the past few years without an in-depth look at Iowa punter Tory Taylor - but the Hawkeyes had some pedestrian punts while Brody Richter’s one punt went 55 yards. Just all-around excellence from the special teams unit.
Coaching
Offensive Gameplan: A-
Look, was this really an A-level game plan from the offensive staff? Probably not, especially in the second half where the team, as usual, started getting too conservative and cute with things and made the game much closer than it had to be. But the first half was some really good stuff from the offense and would have led to a lot more points if Ethan Garbers doesn’t do Ethan Garbers things to kill two drives inside the five-yard line. I think things could have been a bit better in the passing game, as it seemed like Bieniemy felt the pass blocking had improved to a satisfactory point after the last few weeks and moved away from the moving pockets and quick outs that had been so successful at times.
Still, a part of me is convinced that Bieniemy saw the Iowa uniforms and went into a fugue state believing he was calling plays against the Pittsburgh Steelers again.
Defensive Gameplan: A
If we gave out A+s, this would have earned it. Just an absolute masterclass from Ikaika Malloe, getting the entire defense to key in on Kaleb Johnson and shut down the Iowa rushing attack, then confusing the hell out of Brendan Sullivan in the passing game. Iowa only had two real drives of any real length, a testament to the scheme of the coaching staff and the execution by the players. UCLA might have to throw a pretty sizeable bag to keep Malloe in Westwood next year.
Overall: A
Again, was this an A performance? Not really - there are still too many penalties being committed and I hate the conservative playcalling with a lead - but Deshaun Foster and company earned a grade bump this week because they faced a Kirk Ferentz Iowa team and did not wilt under pressure, instead playing some generally-clean football and physically dominating the Hawkeyes for the majority of the game. I asked the question last week whether UCLA could show disciplined coaching in this game, and that’s what we got, with an inspired defensive performance and an offensive performance that was well up to par.
Critically, I think the decision to pass the ball on 3rd and 8 on the final drive was indicative of the growth Foster has shown this season. He’s been burned already this season by playing things too conservatively late in games, and he had every opportunity to do so here, with the Bruins on the edge of field goal range. But Foster decided to go win the game with the ball in his hands, and Bieniemy dialed up a safe throw for Garbers to convert. Great stuff here.
Trend
Trending: Up
Hard to be anything but up after a third straight win over one of the gatekeeper programs of the Big Ten. It was hard to measure the improvement of the team given the state that Rutgers and Nebraska were in for those games, but Iowa was just coming of a huge win over Wisconsin and was priming for a late run at a potential playoff bid. This was a good win.
Final Composite
Offense grade: B- (2.7)
Defense grade: A- (3.7)
Special Teams grade: A (4.0)
Coaching grade: A (4.0)
Trending: Up
Final grade for Iowa Hawkeyes: A- (3.6)
And as a reminder, here are the scores from other games this year:
Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors: C (1.9)
Indiana Hoosiers: F (0.6)
LSU Tigers: C (1.9)
Oregon Ducks: D+ (1.3)
Penn State Nittany Lions: C+ (2.2)
Minnesota Golden Gophers: C- (1.75)
Rutgers Scarlet Knights: C+ (2.3)
Nebraska Cornhuskers: B+ (3.2)
The A- feels like a perfect grade for this game. Were the Bruins a perfect team last Friday? No, not really, and there are some grades that got hurt by that imperfection, but the Bruins were definitely the better team last Friday, and by a margin that was not indicated by the final score.
Up next is Washington, which is not what I am afraid of here, but I am fascinated by the matchup with Jedd Fisch, who always seems to get keyed up to play the Bruins. Maybe getting passed over for the job has led to (justified) spite filling his heart, but Fisch always has his teams prepared for this game, and on a Friday night coming off an uncompetitive loss to Penn State, you can be assured the Huskies will be ready for this game.
After last week, though, I have hope that UCLA will be as well.
Go Bruins!
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Now if we could just get the o-line to pass block as well as run block we'd have something going. Although I think we've probably reached the ceiling with Garbers, he reminds me of Kevin Craft, serviceable but prone to interceptions.
It was the throw-backs!